Of course 70-100 times. It's not like other films where you watch it once or twice. Once upon a time in the West is a work of art and should be revisited and appreciated often.
@@nhmooytis7058 Sergio Leone shows the audience who shot the family because he wanted and got the reaction: 'Jeez, that's Henry Fonda!' And then he shoots the boy.
Every note, every scene, every nuance of music or visuals or dialogue [whatever there is] is simply irresistibly romantic, dramatic, melodramatic, a picture for the ages.
If there is one scene of any movie, that I will always remember: It is the sequence, where Jill gets off the train and syncronises her moves to the music. To me she was the perfect example why men love women but often cannot be happy with them.
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is not only one of the greatest westerns ever made, it is one of the greatest films ever made, alongside its 80s counterpoint, Once upon a time in America. Ennio Morricones music captures the mood in both films absolutely perfectly, both films are genius.
Yes but unfortunately the American distributors slaughtered once upon in America plus they didn’t enter morricones music score to the Oscar nominations. It would’ve won. Hands down. It’s one of the greatest film scores of all time. Italy gives. The world takes. 🎩
@@ginomazzei1076 Can't argue. The gold standard on film directors - Scorsese,DePalma,Coppola,Leone,Bertulluci,Zefferelli,and on and on. Lightweight boxers and mobsters - can't beat Italians. Soldiers - not so much.
The Hollywood distribution gangsters didn’t include Morricone’s music for Oscar nomination for once upon in America. It would’ve won. Also they absolutely butchered the film which nearly killed Leone. Today you can see the film restored and in its full length majesty. 🎩
@@hennagaijin100 Well, I guess truth is always in the middle.....to be true, Scorsese, De Palma, Coppola, Tarantino are americans with italian roots.....there are great americans with german, austrian, french, ukrainian, mexican, etc... roots..... This is America ! Talking about soldiers, I wouldn't be so sure...your judgement (a well spread judgement, actually) is based on the general misfunctioning of the italian war machine during the XX° century. From this perspective and considering the history of XX° century, you may be right, but history have been very different in other times, as you certainly know. I'm not a sovereign, at all.....I just like the truth.
I watched it the first time it came on television sprawled out on the living room floor ...best western I'd ever seen and in the 60's there was no end to westerns. I'm 67 now and it's still at the top of the best . I've watched it several times since the first time and Is watch it again .
What just happen? I watched it yesterday, I didn't realize when about 3 hours passed. I just watched it because of music I heard in TH-cam, but I watched one of the best movie's I've ever watched. I watched it tnx to Ennio Morricone's music.
You are not alone, Jack. It's in mine and my husband's top five. And for the musical score, it is definitely number one! Have you seen "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago?" If you have not, you will love them, too. Enjoy!
@@lillybloom1590 i know both movies exist and that they are good, and my parents loved them. i will watch ! just saw "Barry Lyndon" the first time few weeks ago, think i missed out some of the great movies
@@lillybloom1590 this is also my favourite film of all time. But your recommendations of Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago are both AMAZING films. All epics in the truest sense. Anyone who hasn’t seen these: they deserve to be talked about in the same sentences as Once Upon A Time In The West. I can think of no higher praise.
She is one of the most enticing women I have ever laid eyes on. She has made over 150 movies....a very talented beautiful woman, still going at it in her 80's.
I am from Perú and I watched a lot of western movies with my dad. The very first time I watched this movie I said "what a good western". I visualized it again as an adult and thought: "damn, what a perfect MOVIE". You can enjoy OUTITW even if you don't like western movies.
The american people used to call the italian western movies through a bad way, “The Spaghetti Western”. An italian genius, Sergio Leone, made the best western movies of all the time/cinema.
The first time I seen this movie was with my Dad...(fond memories of him everytime I watch the movie now) I consider this the greatest western period. When I grew up and had my own son, I asked him to sit down and watch it with me which he did and now loves the movie as well. He's grown now and has 2 boys ... I hope I've started a tradition of excellence.
Well, you’ve nailed it. There is nothing more to add to the three words you’ve written on the character of this film. There is nothing speculative about your comment which is more than reasonable Reasonable Speculation.
Speculation, I strongly agree with those three words, as pointed out by T Jena. But may I cast a fly into the beautiful ointment? Kinda funny, actually: The alarmed horse sound that follows most of the gunshots seems to be the same horse and same response every time. That poor horse, hahaha! Those lazy sound people!
You never get tired of Sergio Leone's movies and Morricone's beautilul music. I ve watched The trilogy of the dollar and this film so many times...and every time I watch them I enjoy them so much...They have become part of my life.Masterpieces.
It’s the movies that you fist watch, gain an initial impression but eventually they speak to you in a way that other movies can’t. Once upon a time in the west is - after 10 years of western film renting and watching - my favorite western. No preachy John Wayne, no presumptions about the audience, no glory in the end, just a story.
Absolutely the best Western movie, and maybe one of better movies ever.....I believe the way Sergio got the music to work with the acting, was have the score done first and film and edit to match the movie..
It surprised me as I had never seen it til a few weeks ago, the filming really gets you in with the music pushing the adrenaline on, til you hear Who are you? Haven't seen a movie that is better...
Brilliant, one of the greatest movies ever made!!! Charles Bronson was made for this movie. Much like Clint Eastwood in his Spaghetti Westerns, he doesnt need to talk to tell a story!
I remember stumbling across this flick a few years back and ended up watching the entire thing. And that's coming from someone that's not much of a movie fan in general
In every Sergio Leone western there is one theme he uses and uses it well. The main character has no name. like Clint Eastwood in the western trilogy 1.A Fistful Of Dollars 2.For A Few Dollars More 3. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. He was the man with no name. And Charles Bronson's Character in "Once Upon A Time In The West" is only known as Harmonica. Brilliant!
What I like about Sergio's films as well, is that the protagonists aren't always as good and perfect...they're more anti heroes and they don't necessarily do things for the greater good but rather to fulfill a selfish goal or because something stands in the way of achieving that goal.
Basically the first scene is a representation of the old classic Dollars trilogy being replaced by the Once upon a time trilogy. Starts punchy, funny. The fly disturbing, the guy drinking from his hat, the nervous old man. Classic Sergio Leone. Until Harmonica enters the scene. A creepy sound and a bitter serious face representing the new era of Leone's movies. Even the man with no name drops some clever phrases, but Harmonica is almost mute. OUAT trilogy asks, Dollars trilogy shouts a joke and OUAT trilogy answers with a death threat. Harmonica shoots first and kills the three men, but this is not the Dollars trilogy, you ain't shooting three men and get away harmless. So one of the guys shoots Harmonica back. At that point I was like "WTH, they all just died!!" But this is not the Dollars trilogy. So, you don't die with one bullet. If you're lucky, you can continue your way.
Nice. I, too, didn't appreciate the film until I saw it again as an adult. Suggestion: One of Michael Mann's films, especially Heat, Last of the Mohicans or Thief.
I watch it every time it comes on TV. Probably my favorite movie of all time. Jill's Theme is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.
I've. seen this movie at least 3 or 4 times. And, for all the reasons you gave, I enjoyed it more each time. Also, I listen to the soundtrack over and over again. Genius...!
I just saw it and it was my first western movie. I had it for long time I just wanted to see why did I have it? I am proud of younger me it was an experience. And you should watch it.
I read an interesting theory some time ago about Bronson being the same character as Eastwood some years later.. There are some things that tie them together; this is a number of years later than the Eastwood films, which took place around the Civil War. They are both men with no name who were ruthless when the situation warranted it.....
Impressive work, I concur with your observation. Once Upon a Time In The West is the finest of the genre. It was Charles Bronsons moment and I reckon he knew it.
I wanted the theme tune , played at me and my wife’s wedding , in Skiathos Greece , as my future wife walked into our wedding service. But when I played it to her she burst out crying , and said it was to emotional . So I will have to have it played at my funeral. Brilliant film but an even more Brilliant soundtrack. God bless Mr Morricone 🙏
You mean Jill's Theme? Yes, it's the greatest piece in the entire score, but everyone always talks about 'The Man With the Harmonica'. While it's great, it doesn't have the emotional grandeur or power to move you to tears like this does.
@@AndrewGivens I hope it was Jill's theme. For a second there I pictured in my mind playing the Final Duel theme at a wedding. Imagine the bride enter in time with the guitar and walk slowly towards the groom. It would make it a hell of a wedding. :)
This movie will not appeal to comic book movie fans with the attention span of a strobe light. The action plays out deliberately, the plot builds meticulously, you really get inside the heads of each character, then when the action finally happens, it's abrupt and over just as quickly. I love everything about this movie for just these reasons. It's right there comfortably in my top five of all time, alongside "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Blade Runner." To call "Once upon a Time in the West" a masterpiece does not do it justice.
This was one of those movies I frequently saw at my local video store back in the early 90s and the cover always intrigued me. It took me a great while to finally rent it but it certainly left a lasting impression on me. I remember reading the movie summary on the back of the display box and noticing it was Directed by the same guy who Directed The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. That's what sold me and I was glad I rented it. A fun treat was to have Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill saga serve as a flashback to this movie thanks to the use of Morricone's score. On a final note, there was another of Sergio Leone's period pieces that caught my eye just as Once Upon A Time In The West did at my video store and that movie was Once Upon A Time In America. ✌️
The Kill Bill movies will always be among my all time favorites because of Tarantino's homage to Morricone. I'll watch movies just because he's the composer for them. Sergio was a fantastic director, and now I hear Tarantino's filming "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." I wonder what that's gonna be like.
I too love when the pupil follows in the Master's footsteps. Tarantino and his longtime pal Robert Rodriguez have paid their dues going from independent visionaries to household names (well maybe Tarantino more than Rodriguez in that respect). It's definitely been on my list of highly anticipated films when I first heard of Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. Another Tarantino period piece...can't wait!
I saw this movie at a theater back home when I was in my teens when it first came out. Same years as Bruce Lee's movies. I loved it so much that I bought Morricone's 33 soundtrack and much later on DVD. The many close-ups, the silences, the Far-West, the tough lookin' men, the new emerging cities. It appears that, after many "cowboys" movies, the American had stopped to concentrate on something else. But the Italians, that loved those kinds, wanted to bring them back to life. Hence, they were called "spaghetti westerns". And many, many more were produced with Clint Eastwood, Bud Spencer, etc and with very low budget but impressive box office returns.
@@garudain77 Three of them come to my mind. "A fitsful of dollars" is definately one of my best with Eastwood. In this one, Eastwood was called "the man with no name". Followed by "The good, the bad and the ugly" again with Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. The third one has a funny twist... and was some kind of a wink to the first one since it was entitled "My name is nobody" with Terrence Hill.
I love how this movie artistically depicts murder staring you in the face in so many different ways. Like the waves in that painting, the tension and violence are kinetic, beautiful and dangerous in their poetry.
Carve names of SL and SC with pride. Timeless priceless par excellence hypnotic spellbinding mesmerising i saw this movie not less than 25 times. Music of Ennio Morricon play in my funeral please.
Unfortunately for me, the first time I saw Once upon a Time in the West it was the severely cut down version. So cut down that it did not make any sense, and I thought just another spaghetti Western, good music though. Wonder what it's doing in this? Fast forward 40 years and I see that the theme song is now being sung by female opera singers. I began to realize just how beautiful the song was. I searched TH-cam and found a reconstructed version of the movie, it was almost 3 hours long. Although I hadn't intended to I watched the whole thing and then I knew this was the Best Western, the best movie that had been made in my life. Sergio Leone is a genius director and the man who composed the music will someday be reckoned to be in the same league as Mozart and Chopin.
Probably one of the all-time greatest combination of exceptional opening scenes with the nostalgic echo of the classical ending that shows railroad's role in American pioneering, violence, and previewing of the industrial revolution to follow. The western romance of revenge hauntingly reverberates a musical underscore through the entire story-line/movie of unforgettable characters, beauty, villains, and seekers of justice.
I watched at the age of eleven years old for the first time in Italy, and for the first time at the moves approximately in 1968. An older friend of mine took me to the cinema , he said to me we are going to see a splendid western move, and it's NOT the usual cow boys and Indians, this is very different.. it is really based on how life was in America in western time. As Jung as I was, "Once Upon A Time in the West" got into me and it styed.
One of my favourite movies. I saw it first when I was about 16 and I fell in love with the genre (to the point where I eventually wrote my film thesis on Sergio Leone and his influence on cinema).
Once Upon a Time in The West is one of the very few movies that I’ve watched a handful of times. There are also some very famous movies that I’ve never had any inclination to watch.
@@randywhite3947 I slept through Lawrence of Arabia, I've never watch Gone With The Wind or Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ. I've never watched Tiranic. I could go on but you get the picture.
Very good review! I've watched this 3 - 4 times and usually see something new I've missed..I think this is one Fonda's best roles. I don't think he ever played such a bastard.
revenge is one of the motivations that is most easily identified with. I believe that all the favorite characters from novels and movies are "Count of Monte Cristo".
Love this movie. I have three copies on VHS one on DVD and the original soundtrack ..I read this movie played for almost a year in Paris. The long dusters worn in the movie became a fad in Paris. Frank's horse was used when Jill was fixing to leave the barn. Most of it was filmed in Spain and in the US in monument valley. :-)
Great video. I too enjoyed this movie. However, many people have complained about this movie. Perhaps those people like the easily defined characters and simple plots of the old typical westerns
The television premiere was during my 1972-73 school year and I skipped some of it because it seemed foreign and over the top, unfamiliar. Could not imagine how many times I would eventually watch this or that something called The Internet would allow me to edit the firearms database for this film(Internet Movie Firearms Database). Check out that webpage if you have any firearms related questions.
Sergio leone and ennio morricone, best ingredients for a true classic western but this one is different, it’s slow and in no rush to get to the end… it’s not in your face if you get my drift.
Deft, yet complete assessment of the main characters and the reason for “harmonica’s” vengeance on Frank’s cold hearted series of murders. One can feel that the slow buildup is bringing a vengeance which will not be denied. Super commentary! Amazing western.
My favorite Western. It's in my top three of all the movies I've ever watched. One little mistake though: Harmonica takes a bullet in his shoulder in the opening scene. Later in the movie it doesn't seem to bother him at all and the bullet hole is his coat disappears mysteriously.
I watched "Once upon a time in the west" at least 70-100 times since the 70s, most recently I watched it yesterday. I am in love with that movie.
70-100 is alot. It is my favorite western. I plan on passing your record up....
just obsessed with this movie.
450 and still counting.
Thank you.
Of course 70-100 times. It's not like other films where you watch it once or twice. Once upon a time in the West is a work of art and should be revisited and appreciated often.
Best Western ever with the best movie soundtrack ever.
💯 per cent correct my friend 👍
No doubt.. Agreed a 100%. One of the best movies not just westerns
By far!
Does it beat The good the bad and the ugly? That’s my favorite western, never seen this one
Lonesome Dove tops it.
Henry Fonda as the psychopathic Frank is one of the greatest casting coups of all time.
Fonda talking about it with Cavett in 1972:
th-cam.com/video/AChcvMFT0ao/w-d-xo.html
@@nhmooytis7058 Sergio Leone shows the audience who shot the family because he wanted and got the reaction: 'Jeez, that's Henry Fonda!' And then he shoots the boy.
@@castelodeossos3947 great filmmaking!
Because it's the greatest Western ever made, and one of the finest films, of any type, of all time.
It’s a masterpiece that people will be watching for a hundred years
The best western of all time..
Every note, every scene, every nuance of music or visuals or dialogue [whatever there is] is simply irresistibly romantic, dramatic, melodramatic, a picture for the ages.
Got it on Blu Ray... watched it loads of times. Absolute masterpiece.
By far the best movie i have seen including all westerns nothing comes close.you can watch this movie over and over you never tire of it
If there is one scene of any movie, that I will always remember: It is the sequence, where Jill gets off the train and syncronises her moves to the music.
To me she was the perfect example why men love women but often cannot be happy with them.
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is not only one of the greatest westerns ever made, it is one of the greatest films ever made, alongside its 80s counterpoint, Once upon a time in America. Ennio Morricones music captures the mood in both films absolutely perfectly, both films are genius.
Yes but unfortunately the American distributors slaughtered once upon in America plus they didn’t enter morricones music score to the Oscar nominations. It would’ve won. Hands down. It’s one of the greatest film scores of all time.
Italy gives. The world takes. 🎩
@@ginomazzei1076 I'm assuming you are Italian? 🙄
@@ginomazzei1076 Can't argue. The gold standard on film directors - Scorsese,DePalma,Coppola,Leone,Bertulluci,Zefferelli,and on and on. Lightweight boxers and mobsters - can't beat Italians. Soldiers - not so much.
The Hollywood distribution gangsters didn’t include Morricone’s music for Oscar nomination for once upon in America. It would’ve won.
Also they absolutely butchered the film which nearly killed Leone. Today you can see the film restored and in its full length majesty. 🎩
@@hennagaijin100 Well, I guess truth is always in the middle.....to be true, Scorsese, De Palma, Coppola, Tarantino are americans with italian roots.....there are great americans with german, austrian, french, ukrainian, mexican, etc... roots..... This is America ! Talking about soldiers, I wouldn't be so sure...your judgement (a well spread judgement, actually) is based on the general misfunctioning of the italian war machine during the XX° century. From this perspective and considering the history of XX° century, you may be right, but history have been very different in other times, as you certainly know. I'm not a sovereign, at all.....I just like the truth.
It's reductive to relegate it among the best westerns ever made: I'd say among the best films ever made. It's pure cinematic art this film.
I watched it the first time it came on television sprawled out on the living room floor ...best western I'd ever seen and in the 60's there was no end to westerns. I'm 67 now and it's still at the top of the best . I've watched it several times since the first time and Is watch it again .
I'm 65 and watch it every Christmas morning. It's my present to myself .
What just happen? I watched it yesterday, I didn't realize when about 3 hours passed. I just watched it because of music I heard in TH-cam, but I watched one of the best movie's I've ever watched. I watched it tnx to Ennio Morricone's music.
Drove thru Monument Valley with the soundtrack playing. Gave me incredible chills. Fantastic movie and soundtrack!!!
OH WOW ! That must have been a rush ! Gotta do that !
Great idea! Sounds like a bucket list item.
Best western ever. Best actors. Best film music. Best camera. Among the to 10 films ever made.
@Kieth Hutchkiss wow! you suck!
@Kieth Hutchkiss Who the fuck is interested tosser.
What’s are the others?
These are all facts
this is my favorite movie of all time.
You are not alone, Jack. It's in mine and my husband's top five. And for the musical score, it is definitely number one! Have you seen "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago?" If you have not, you will love them, too. Enjoy!
@@lillybloom1590 i know both movies exist and that they are good, and my parents loved them. i will watch ! just saw "Barry Lyndon" the first time few weeks ago, think i missed out some of the great movies
same here
@@lillybloom1590 Thanks :)
@@lillybloom1590 this is also my favourite film of all time. But your recommendations of Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago are both AMAZING films. All epics in the truest sense. Anyone who hasn’t seen these: they deserve to be talked about in the same sentences as Once Upon A Time In The West. I can think of no higher praise.
Best ever western, music brilliant, Claudia Cardinele absolutely gorgeous
She is one of the most enticing women I have ever laid eyes on. She has made over 150 movies....a very talented beautiful woman, still going at it in her 80's.
This entire movie embodies the theme of unfulfilled dreams, the longing at what could have been. It makes you feel this emotion in your bones.
Imagine
An Italian had to show what americas West was capable of….
But then again Americans derived their name from amerigo verpucci
Best western ever!!! Never tire of watching
What I loved in the intro are the sounds that are singled out: the squeeking windwheel, the drop on the hat, the fly.
I was 18 when I saw it with a girl I was in love with. I fell in love with the movie and the music. At least I kept loving those two. My whole life.
I am from Perú and I watched a lot of western movies with my dad. The very first time I watched this movie I said "what a good western". I visualized it again as an adult and thought: "damn, what a perfect MOVIE". You can enjoy OUTITW even if you don't like western movies.
Filmed on location AFTER Ennio Morrocone scored it. The soundtrack was played on a speaker as the actors were being filmed.
The american people used to call the italian western movies through a bad way, “The Spaghetti Western”.
An italian genius, Sergio Leone, made the best western movies of all the time/cinema.
Did not get it the first time- but now is pure operatic beauty. Each frame should be studied. You definitely should watch it.
I watched this when I was young and went “meh ☹️ “. and then I grew up and as a man I say “Oh my God”. It’s good being grown up😎
The first time I seen this movie was with my Dad...(fond memories of him everytime I watch the movie now) I consider this the greatest western period. When I grew up and had my own son, I asked him to sit down and watch it with me which he did and now loves the movie as well. He's grown now and has 2 boys ... I hope I've started a tradition of excellence.
Charles and Claudia...... Awesome in this film....
This is definitely one of the best Westerns ever !!!!!
I loved and respected this movie when I first saw it.
Fantastic review... the movie is an emotional, visual, and auditory masterpiece ..
Well, you’ve nailed it. There is nothing more to add to the three words you’ve written on the character of this film. There is nothing speculative about your comment which is more than reasonable Reasonable Speculation.
Speculation, I strongly agree with those three words, as pointed out by T Jena. But may I cast a fly into the beautiful ointment? Kinda funny, actually: The alarmed horse sound that follows most of the gunshots seems to be the same horse and same response every time. That poor horse, hahaha! Those lazy sound people!
Always one my all time favs. You really hit the nail on the head with you narration...
I just watched this movie yesterday and I was pulled into the story from the first scene and listened as it all slowly unfolded before my eyes
It bumped The Good The Bad And The Ugly out of it's 37 year run of first place for me because of the story line.
A great movie in every aspect. The score is what really becomes the soul of the story. Thanks for the review.
It is a GREAT movie!!! I’ve watched it at least 4 times and am looking forward to seeing it again
It’s simply a masterpiece of writing, directing and acting!
You never get tired of Sergio Leone's movies and Morricone's beautilul music. I ve watched The trilogy of the dollar and this film so many times...and every time I watch them I enjoy them so much...They have become part of my life.Masterpieces.
Great Westen movie!
Sergio Leone was a true genius.
Watched it first time with Granpa, long ago.
Will visit film locations on both memory and honor.
This film was excellent! One ove the best imo
It’s the movies that you fist watch, gain an initial impression but eventually they speak to you in a way that other movies can’t. Once upon a time in the west is - after 10 years of western film renting and watching - my favorite western. No preachy John Wayne, no presumptions about the audience, no glory in the end, just a story.
Oh you are ONTO SOMETHING! Yes, That's it!
A brilliant story
Absolutely the best Western movie, and maybe one of better movies ever.....I believe the way Sergio got the music to work with the acting, was have the score done first and film and edit to match the movie..
Just watched it last night. I hadn't seen it in many years. Truly a great film!
It surprised me as I had never seen it til a few weeks ago, the filming really gets you in with the music pushing the adrenaline on, til you hear Who are you? Haven't seen a movie that is better...
Brilliant, one of the greatest movies ever made!!! Charles Bronson was made for this movie. Much like Clint Eastwood in his Spaghetti Westerns, he doesnt need to talk to tell a story!
Appreciation for this movie becomes more evident after viewing more than once. Beautiful description of the content.
Leone/Morricone masterpiece!
no mention of Jason Robards,watch his facial expressions ,the gritty voice,what a top actor,seen this film several times,still reckon its was his film
Cheyenne. mentioned several times.
Dude watch the video again he was mentioned
I remember stumbling across this flick a few years back and ended up watching the entire thing. And that's coming from someone that's not much of a movie fan in general
Magical film and music.
Because it's a f**king masterpiece
In every Sergio Leone western there is one theme he uses and uses it well. The main character has no name. like Clint Eastwood in the western trilogy 1.A Fistful Of Dollars 2.For A Few Dollars More 3. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. He was the man with no name. And Charles Bronson's Character in "Once Upon A Time In The West" is only known as Harmonica. Brilliant!
That concept has been proven to work, and work very well indeed. What an awesome western !
What I like about Sergio's films as well, is that the protagonists aren't always as good and perfect...they're more anti heroes and they don't necessarily do things for the greater good but rather to fulfill a selfish goal or because something stands in the way of achieving that goal.
Basically the first scene is a representation of the old classic Dollars trilogy being replaced by the Once upon a time trilogy.
Starts punchy, funny. The fly disturbing, the guy drinking from his hat, the nervous old man. Classic Sergio Leone.
Until Harmonica enters the scene. A creepy sound and a bitter serious face representing the new era of Leone's movies. Even the man with no name drops some clever phrases, but Harmonica is almost mute.
OUAT trilogy asks, Dollars trilogy shouts a joke and OUAT trilogy answers with a death threat.
Harmonica shoots first and kills the three men, but this is not the Dollars trilogy, you ain't shooting three men and get away harmless. So one of the guys shoots Harmonica back.
At that point I was like "WTH, they all just died!!" But this is not the Dollars trilogy. So, you don't die with one bullet. If you're lucky, you can continue your way.
Sir Ennio put life into that final duel. Perhaps one of the best final duels.
Watch 'Shane' !
Agree 100% Best ever Western ever made from start to finish, thanks to Sergio Leone , probably #2 Unforgiven.
The good the bad and the ugly???
Nice. I, too, didn't appreciate the film until I saw it again as an adult.
Suggestion: One of Michael Mann's films, especially Heat, Last of the Mohicans or Thief.
I watch it every time it comes on TV. Probably my favorite movie of all time. Jill's Theme is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.
My favorite western and closing in on my face all time movie
The bigger question is....How did the film industry lose its' ability to make masterpieces like this?
One word: wokeism
@@Gunners_Mate_Guns So true...unfortunately...
Effing wokeism.
@@garudain77 I'm looking forward to the long overdue massive backlash to this left-wing fascism.
They still do you just have to find them
I've. seen this movie at least 3 or 4 times. And, for all the reasons you gave, I enjoyed it more each time. Also, I listen to the soundtrack over and over again. Genius...!
I just saw it and it was my first western movie.
I had it for long time I just wanted to see why did I have it? I am proud of younger me it was an experience. And you should watch it.
I read an interesting theory some time ago about Bronson being the same character as Eastwood some years later.. There are some things that tie them together; this is a number of years later than the Eastwood films, which took place around the Civil War. They are both men with no name who were ruthless when the situation warranted it.....
24 years since I saw this film and it has held on to me like nothing else before or since.
Impressive work, I concur with your observation. Once Upon a Time In The West is the finest of the genre. It was Charles Bronsons moment and I reckon he knew it.
"I recon"
My favorite movie and western of all-time... It just beats out "Once Upon a time in the West"... both made by Mr. Leone.
Now I go watch it again.
What an delightful and well executed video essay on a film that should be considered the greatest western of all time!
I wanted the theme tune , played at me and my wife’s wedding , in Skiathos Greece , as my future wife walked into our wedding service.
But when I played it to her she burst out crying , and said it was to emotional . So I will have to have it played at my funeral. Brilliant film but an even more Brilliant soundtrack. God bless Mr Morricone 🙏
You mean Jill's Theme? Yes, it's the greatest piece in the entire score, but everyone always talks about 'The Man With the Harmonica'. While it's great, it doesn't have the emotional grandeur or power to move you to tears like this does.
@@AndrewGivens Thanks for that Andrew I didn’t realise it was called that I’m listening to it now 👍🇬🇧
@@AndrewGivens I hope it was Jill's theme. For a second there I pictured in my mind playing the Final Duel theme at a wedding. Imagine the bride enter in time with the guitar and walk slowly towards the groom. It would make it a hell of a wedding. :)
IMO not just the greatest Western, but the greatest movie ever made.
This movie will not appeal to comic book movie fans with the attention span of a strobe light.
The action plays out deliberately, the plot builds meticulously, you really get inside the heads of each character, then when the action finally happens, it's abrupt and over just as quickly.
I love everything about this movie for just these reasons.
It's right there comfortably in my top five of all time, alongside "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Blade Runner."
To call "Once upon a Time in the West" a masterpiece does not do it justice.
I like your opening paragraph! Well said. Right on point.
This was one of those movies I frequently saw at my local video store back in the early 90s and the cover always intrigued me. It took me a great while to finally rent it but it certainly left a lasting impression on me. I remember reading the movie summary on the back of the display box and noticing it was Directed by the same guy who Directed The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. That's what sold me and I was glad I rented it.
A fun treat was to have Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill saga serve as a flashback to this movie thanks to the use of Morricone's score.
On a final note, there was another of Sergio Leone's period pieces that caught my eye just as Once Upon A Time In The West did at my video store and that movie was Once Upon A Time In America. ✌️
The Kill Bill movies will always be among my all time favorites because of Tarantino's homage to Morricone. I'll watch movies just because he's the composer for them. Sergio was a fantastic director, and now I hear Tarantino's filming "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." I wonder what that's gonna be like.
I too love when the pupil follows in the Master's footsteps. Tarantino and his longtime pal Robert Rodriguez have paid their dues going from independent visionaries to household names (well maybe Tarantino more than Rodriguez in that respect).
It's definitely been on my list of highly anticipated films when I first heard of Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. Another Tarantino period piece...can't wait!
I saw this movie at a theater back home when I was in my teens when it first came out. Same years as Bruce Lee's movies. I loved it so much that I bought Morricone's 33 soundtrack and much later on DVD. The many close-ups, the silences, the Far-West, the tough lookin' men, the new emerging cities. It appears that, after many "cowboys" movies, the American had stopped to concentrate on something else. But the Italians, that loved those kinds, wanted to bring them back to life. Hence, they were called "spaghetti westerns". And many, many more were produced with Clint Eastwood, Bud Spencer, etc and with very low budget but impressive box office returns.
Hey, You... Please name us some of those lower-budget, spaghetti westerns, so we can watch em! And thanks for the info!
@@garudain77 Three of them come to my mind. "A fitsful of dollars" is definately one of my best with Eastwood. In this one, Eastwood was called "the man with no name". Followed by "The good, the bad and the ugly" again with Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. The third one has a funny twist... and was some kind of a wink to the first one since it was entitled "My name is nobody" with Terrence Hill.
My favorite western
I think the best western ever, the opening scene fantastic,the building railroad scene at the end ,pure genius.
Loved every second of what it was, as life turned a page in American history.
I love how this movie artistically depicts murder staring you in the face in so many different ways. Like the waves in that painting, the tension and violence are kinetic, beautiful and dangerous in their poetry.
Great video and explainations about the best western and one of the very best movies ever made ! Well done. Bravo...
Carve names of SL and SC with pride. Timeless priceless par excellence hypnotic spellbinding mesmerising i saw this movie not less than 25 times. Music of Ennio Morricon play in my funeral please.
Unfortunately for me, the first time I saw Once upon a Time in the West it was the severely cut down version. So cut down that it did not make any sense, and I thought just another spaghetti Western, good music though. Wonder what it's doing in this? Fast forward 40 years and I see that the theme song is now being sung by female opera singers. I began to realize just how beautiful the song was. I searched TH-cam and found a reconstructed version of the movie, it was almost 3 hours long. Although I hadn't intended to I watched the whole thing and then I knew this was the Best Western, the best movie that had been made in my life. Sergio Leone is a genius director and the man who composed the music will someday be reckoned to be in the same league as Mozart and Chopin.
Probably one of the all-time greatest combination of exceptional opening scenes with the nostalgic echo of the classical ending that shows railroad's role in American pioneering, violence, and previewing of the industrial revolution to follow. The western romance of revenge hauntingly reverberates a musical underscore through the entire story-line/movie of unforgettable characters, beauty, villains, and seekers of justice.
I watched at the age of eleven years old for the first time in Italy, and for the first time at the moves approximately in 1968. An older friend of mine took me to the cinema , he said to me we are going to see a splendid western move, and it's NOT the usual cow boys and Indians, this is very different.. it is really based on how life was in America in western time. As Jung as I was, "Once Upon A Time in the West" got into me and it styed.
One of my favourite movies. I saw it first when I was about 16 and I fell in love with the genre (to the point where I eventually wrote my film thesis on Sergio Leone and his influence on cinema).
Once Upon a Time in The West is one of the very few movies that I’ve watched a handful of times.
There are also some very famous movies that I’ve never had any inclination to watch.
What movies are those?
@@randywhite3947 I slept through Lawrence of Arabia, I've never watch Gone With The Wind or Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ. I've never watched Tiranic. I could go on but you get the picture.
THE MUSIC WAS PLAYED ON THE SET FOR THE ACTORS TO WORK THEIR MOVEMENTS IN SINCT
Very good review! I've watched this 3 - 4 times and usually see something new I've missed..I think this is one Fonda's best roles. I don't think he ever played such a bastard.
revenge is one of the motivations that is most easily identified with. I believe that all the favorite characters from novels and movies are "Count of Monte Cristo".
No mention of what a shock it was to see Henry Fonda as a villain.
I understand this is the only movie Fonda played the bad guy.
Love this movie. I have three copies on VHS one on DVD and the original soundtrack ..I read this movie played for almost a year in Paris. The long dusters worn in the movie became a fad in Paris. Frank's horse was used when Jill was fixing to leave the barn. Most of it was filmed in Spain and in the US in monument valley. :-)
@@denniswhorley2185 he played a guy that same year and arguably one in Fort Apache two decades prior.
Nice video; nice perspective. Well done, and Thanks!
Great video. I too enjoyed this movie. However, many people have complained about this movie.
Perhaps those people like the easily defined characters and simple plots of the old typical westerns
The television premiere was during my 1972-73 school year and I skipped some of it because it seemed foreign and over the top, unfamiliar. Could not imagine how many times I would eventually watch this or that something called The Internet would allow me to edit the firearms database for this film(Internet Movie Firearms Database). Check out that webpage if you have any firearms related questions.
this movie is epic!!!
Had everything drama,sex,music, They had the best closeups, scenery 🇺🇸🐱
1# Best Western Movie Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This movie can be summed up in one word masterpiece.
Excellent. I'd be interested in a similar retrospective by you on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Absolutely wonderful wonderful movie. My hot favorite.
Sergio leone and ennio morricone, best ingredients for a true classic western but this one is different, it’s slow and in no rush to get to the end… it’s not in your face if you get my drift.
Love it . How about High Plans Drifter
Deft, yet complete assessment of the main characters and the reason for “harmonica’s” vengeance on Frank’s cold hearted series of murders. One can feel that the slow buildup is bringing a vengeance which will not be denied. Super commentary! Amazing western.
Coz it's the greatest movie ever made.... Loved it since I first saw it in the 80's
This is not a movie
This is a portrait of America with its good and evil sides
From the moment it was established until now
My favorite Western. It's in my top three of all the movies I've ever watched. One little mistake though: Harmonica takes a bullet in his shoulder in the opening scene. Later in the movie it doesn't seem to bother him at all and the bullet hole is his coat disappears mysteriously.
What can we say? He's one tough hombre; so's his coat.
Outstanding breakdown